The invention relates to the technical field of apparatus for dispensing basewad papers with automatic or non-automatic cutting. These dispensing apparatuses can have different applications such as hand wipes, toilet paper or similar applications.
The Applicant has developed numerous apparatuses for dispensing wiping material which comprise a housing (1) with a protective cover (2) inside which there is, mounted on support side plates (3), a drum (5) that accommodates an internal cutting device (not shown) which is actuated by the strip of material being pulled by the user from a roll of material (6). The latter may be suspended from the side plates or rest directly on the drum. The roll of wiping material which is mounted on the support side plates (4) is tightly wound around a core (7). The latter accommodates, on at least one of its ends, an end piece (8) capable of positioning itself on the opposite side plate (4) of the housing, the other end of the core positioning itself on the opposite side plate which is designed with an accommodating bearing surface (9) that is shaped during moulding or located on a flexible tab (10) that is articulated relative to its support side plate (4). These end pieces are generally made in cylindrical form with a protruding transverse flange that presses against the opposite-facing surface of the core and the roll, an internal cylindrical part being tightly fitted into the core, the end piece also having forwardly an axially extending neck which fits into an indentation of the support side plate in question.
Depending on the developed versions operated by the Applicant's licensees, the end piece has a simple straight neck or it may have, along the length of said neck, a head at its end and a cylindrical bearing surface adjacent to the flange. It may also comprise a hollowed-out area forming a groove and guide path as shown in FIG. 2. In this case, said end piece is made to cooperate with an articulated guide (11) separately mounted on support plate (4) which supports the roll and facilitates insertion of the roll of wiping material and its retention by movement of the guide in opposition to an elastic return means which is not shown. The support guide has projections (11a) formed internally on the walls of its opening through which the end piece passes and is inserted. Such an arrangement is described in the Applicant's PCT Patent WO 2005/094652.
This document also describes the possibility of designing the guide with opposite-facing recesses either side of the guide path forming a groove. In this embodiment, the core accommodates a single end piece at one end and cooperating with above-mentioned support side plate, whereas the other end of the core centres itself on a bearing surface provided on the opposite-facing side plate. The arrangement of opposite-facing recesses, as stated above, enables downward swiveling of the core when the roll of material is exhausted. In this case, the core and the end piece fitted on its end can be recovered and may or may not be reused or disposed of without there being any modification to the appearance and characteristics of the core and the end pieces.
The problem to be solved is that of end pieces possibly being reused by persons or competitors who may recondition them on cores with rolls of wiping material that do not originate from the original firm that laid down the specifications for the apparatuses for dispensing wiping materials in question.
In an attempt to deal with this situation, the Applicant has developed improvements of the parts that accommodate the end piece in the apparatus, i.e. on the side plates of the housing or on a swiveling support guide described in the Applicant's Patent PCT 2005/094652. Another technical solution is described in French Patent No. 2879090, for a locked end piece described and devised by the Applicant. This is a device for locking the end piece which prevents it being removed by simply withdrawing it.
In practice, this solution is expensive to implement and requires an additional number of parts in order to obtain the above-mentioned function. In addition, it does not solve the problem of possible reuse of the end piece which remains intact in terms of its shape and structure.
End pieces for rolls of wiping materials as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,466, and German Patent 19723076, are also known. These end pieces are not at all suitable for solving the Applicant's problem and their head part has a rigid configuration despite the presence of an internal hole because their function is unconnected with the problem in question.